ATLANTA — The fascination with Ubaldo Jimenez has always been undeniable. His long limbs, his engaging smile, his hints of unrivaled brilliance.

He grew up in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, a dreamer. As he stood at his locker at Turner Field on Saturday night, a bottle of Charles Lafitte champagne at his feet, the 26-year-old Jimenez had officially made it.

Regardless of how the rest of his career plays out, he will forever be remembered as the first Rockies pitcher to throw a no-hitter. In a stunning performance, Jimenez overcame early wildness to maul the Atlanta Braves in a 4-0 victory that left a crowd of 32,602 in respectful silence.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling, an honor to have teammates hugging you and admiring what we did,” Jimenez said. “Every single guy was pulling for me. You could see it in their faces.”

Jimenez made history in an odd fashion, piecing together a puzzle quietly for a couple of hours before figuring out what he was doing wrong. He walked the leadoff hitter in the third, fourth and fifth innings. When he reached 83 pitches, he had thrown more balls (42) than strikes (41).

And yet the Braves never felt comfortable, leery of playing a starring role in an indignity.

“After my first at-bat, I knew it was going to be one of those nights,” Braves all-star catcher Brian McCann said. “His stuff was so good. We couldn’t find the barrel on anything.”

The idea of a no-hitter first struck Jimenez in the fifth, at the same time the box score began unspooling a magical truth. Jimenez walked Braves rookie Jason Heyward to lead off that inning. He was the last Braves hitter to reach base.

At the suggestion of pitching coach Bob Apodaca, Jimenez made a radical adjustment in midgame, pitching exclusively from the stretch beginning in the sixth inning.

Over the final three innings, he threw just 27 pitches. The final line spoke to his stamina and strength. He threw 128 pitches and finished with seven strikeouts and six walks. The average velocity on his fastball was 97 mph. He topped 100 three times. His last pitch hit 97 mph, an evil running sinker that jammed McCann, who grounded out to second baseman Clint Barmes for the final out as first baseman Todd Helton greeted Jimenez with a bear hug.

“I was a little nervous on that one,” Barmes said. “It’s special to be part of this.”

Fighting back tears, Jimenez called his mother Ramona in Denver and his father Ubaldo Sr. in the Dominican. He couldn’t provide many details of the conversations.

“They were loud, screaming so much that I really didn’t hear anything,” Jimenez said, smiling.

Only once has a Rockies pitcher flirted with a no-hitter. Jason Jennings worked 6 2/3 hitless innings against the Pirates in 2002. That was a little bit smoke and mirrors. This was heat and fear.

There were only three things that threatened to sabotage history. When Jimenez singled in the fourth inning, his right hamstring grabbed. Melvin Mora told Jimenez that there was no way he was coming out.

In the seventh, Jimenez thought he had lost his gem. Braves slugger Troy Glaus crushed a fastball into the left-center gap. But the wind held it up and center fielder Dexter Fowler made a terrific read. He ran roughly 40 yards before snaring the ball with a fully outstretched dive.

“Play of the year, given the circumstances,” first baseman Jason Giambi said.

At that point, the Rockies’ only concern was a blooper and a mounting pitch count. Jimenez had thrown 112 pitches after eight innings, a manageable total for manager Jim Tracy given that the right-hander had reached 115 in his last outing.

“He wasn’t in danger,” Tracy said.

The ninth brought Jimenez back to his childhood. He had never thrown a no-hitter, but he had long admired a great hitter. Chipper Jones was his idol — that’s why Jimenez wears his high stirrups — and McCann is always a threat to win a batting title.

“I was like, ‘Why does it have to be them? Can’t you guys give me a break?’ ” Jimenez said.

Jones flied out to left field — “It’s kind of hard to hit 100 when it’s not straight,” he lamented — leaving McCann to prevent the Braves from getting no-hit for the 16th time. He got jammed, setting off a celebration in the grass near the mound. Mora was the first player from the bench to greet Jimenez.

“Before the last inning, I told him to go forward into the spotlight, to grab it,” Mora said. “It was his night and now he’s going to remember it forever.”

A closer look at Ubaldo Jimenez, the first pitcher in Rockies’ history to throw a no-hitter.

Age: 26

Height: 6-feet-4

Weight: 210

Born: Nagua, Dominican Republic

Resides: Santo Cristobal, Dominican Republic

Pro career: Tried out for Rockies as a 17-year-old, signed soon after. . . . Baseball hero growing up was pitcher Pedro Martinez, whom he went against for first time in 2008, when he threw eight innings, allowing just one run. . . . Called up to Rockies in 2006 after six seasons in minors, appeared in two games at season’s end. . . . Started 15 games in 2007, then took over full-time rotation spot in 2008, when he went 12-12 with 3.99 ERA. . . . Emerged last season as one of top pitchers in the National League, winning 15 games, with a 3.47 ERA and 198 strikeouts. During one stretch, he pitched six or more innings in 25 consecutive starts. . . . Started Games 1 and 4 in the divisional series against Philadelphia last year. . . . Only pitcher in team history to record two seasons of at least 10 victories and an ERA less than 4.00. . . . Has devastating combination of fastball in upper 90s and 12-to-6 curveball that freezes even the best hitters.

Source: Colorado Rockies

On fire

Ubaldo Jimenez made history not with smoke and mirrors, but heat and fear. With help from Rockies video coordinator Brian Jones, national baseball writer Troy E. Renck breaks down Jimenez’s 128 pitches:

Troy joined The Denver Post in 2002 as the Rockies' beat writer and became a Broncos beat writer in 2014 before assuming the lead role before the 2015 season. He is a past president of the local chapter of Baseball Writers Association of America and has won more than 20 local and national writing awards since graduating from the University of Colorado journalism school with honors in 1993.

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